


Instinct

by CaptainMarvel42



Series: History Yet to Be Written [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Political Animals
Genre: Ant-Man (2015) Post-Credits Scene, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-17 23:18:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4684964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainMarvel42/pseuds/CaptainMarvel42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>CNN Breaking News</b> @cnnbrk<br/>Breaking: The Winter Soldier is the primary suspect in DC shootings. More about the Winter Soldier here: <a>cnn.it/1HjK1FT</a><br/><b>CNN Breaking News</b> @cnnbrk<br/>Police reporting that TJ Hammond is missing. No comments from the Vice President’s office yet.</p>
<p>Steve and Sam finally find Bucky. Ant Man post-credit scene spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Instinct

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta oakttree! Any mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Warning: References to past-violence done to and done by the Winter Soldier.  
> Spoilers: Some dialogue lifted from the Ant Man post-credit scene and D23 footage.

**CNN Breaking News**  @cnnbrk

Breaking: Shootings in downtown DC. Four dead and seven injured. Suspect at large.

**CNN Breaking News**  @cnnbrk    

DC on lockdown. Police advise everyone to stay indoors and lock your doors.

**CNN Breaking News**  @cnnbrk

Breaking: The Winter Soldier is the primary suspect in DC shootings. More about the Winter Soldier here: cnn.it/1HjK1FT

 

Steve freezes, taking in the sight of Bucky slumped on the ground, neck bent so all Steve can see is a tangle of greasy hair, and metal arm trapped in some sort of vise.

It’s the first time Steve has seen Bucky since the Triskellion. Steve searched with Sam, but by the time Sam tracked Bucky to a lab in Siberia, Steve was in Sokovia with the Avengers dealing with Ultron. Sam followed him across Europe, but the trail went cold in Bucharest. There had been no sign of Bucky until the news of the shootings in DC came in. Steve’s relieved that they've finally found Bucky alive, but he doesn’t know who they are dealing with yet--is this the Soldier or his friend?

“Bucky,” Steve whispers, alerting him to his presence.

Bucky looks up and his eyes widen. “Steve?” he asks, voice weak and raspy.

Steve rushes over to help, and as soon as he gets close, Bucky jerks away; his eyes are wild and his breathing is shallow and rapid. Steve raises his hands to show he means no harm, and continues approaching, but slower now. He glances at the vise and kneels in front of Bucky. Running his eyes over Bucky doesn’t reveal any injuries, but Steve knows better than to believe that means there aren’t any. Out of habit, Steve reaches out to touch his face, but stops himself before he does. “I’m here,” Steve says with a voice far steadier than he feels.

“Help me... please,” Bucky says, and then he starts desperately tugging at his metal arm. Despite his strength, the arm doesn’t move. Steve doesn’t know whether he should stop him or help him. After a few moments, Bucky stops tugging, and breathes heavily.

“OK,” Steve says, “Let’s see.” Steve looks at the vise, running his hands over it, careful not to touch the arm, and he doesn’t find any latches that will get Bucky out. He’ll just have to force it to move. He puts both of his hands on the top piece of the vice and pushes with all of his strength. Nothing. Again, Steve bends his knees and pushes with as much force as he can, but it doesn’t move. Panting now, Steve rests his forehead against the machine that’s trapping his friend.

Steve sees Bucky put his right hand on the top piece of the vise and nod in its direction.

Getting the hint, Steve puts his hands back on the vice and says, “We’ll both push on the count of three:

one,

two,

three.”

They both push.

But still nothing. _Damnit._

“Sam,” Steve yells, “We need your help back here!”

Sam runs in and stops a few feet from the machine, eyes wide with shock at the scene before him.

“Come on,” Steve says as he waves at the vise, “Push the top piece with Bucky--”, Steve notices Bucky staring warily at Sam. “And I’ll try to lift.”

Working together, they all try to move the vise, but it stubbornly remains still. Steve sees that Bucky and Sam’s muscles are straining and they are both breathing heavily, so he lets go and backs away. After all this time, he has finally found Bucky, and he’s trapped. They don’t have time for this.

“Hey Cap,” Sam shouts, while staring at Bucky. He walks over to Steve and says in a low voice, “This would’ve been a lot easier a week ago.”

Steve turns to Sam. “If we call Tony--”

Sam cuts him off. “No, he won’t believe us.”

“Even if he did--”

“Even if he did, who knows if the Accords would let him help?” Sam asks.

“We’re on our own,” Steve says. It will be difficult, but he’ll make it work. There's no other choice.

“Maybe not,” Sam replies, looking thoughtful, “I know a guy.”

Steve tries not to get his hope up, wondering who Sam means, “See how soon he can get here.”

Sam nods and walks out of the room to make the call, giving Steve and Bucky some privacy.

***

Steve walks over to where Bucky is kneeling on the floor. “Bucky, we’ll get you out of here. I promise.”

“I’m not him,” Bucky mumbles in reply.

“You may not remember but--”

“I know I’m not him." Despite the raspiness, Bucky’s voice is firm. He leans towards Steve and says, “Your friend died when he fell off Zola’s train.”

_He’s wrong_ , Steve thinks.

“Buck,” Steve says, thinking about the Helicarrier, and about waking up on the riverbed instead of in the water. “You remember me.”

Bucky nods slowly. “Your mother’s name was Sarah. You used to line your shoes with newspapers when we were kids.”

Steve squeezes his eyes shut. When they were kids, Steve wore his shoes until the soles wore through, and then when it rained, his feet would get soaked. He knew his mom couldn’t afford new shoes--too much of their money went to his medical bills--so to make them last longer, Steve would line them with newspaper. Bucky made fun of him the first time he noticed him wearing his shoes with the newspaper still inside, but Steve told him it beat having wet feet. Bucky stopped giving him a hard time after that. He even tried it a couple times and told Steve in a surprised voice that it worked.

Bucky remembering his mother, remembering them when they were kids, it’s more than Steve had prepared himself to hope for. Steve kneels in front of Bucky and looks him in the eyes. “I’ll get you out of here,” he promises.

“I remember…” Bucky trails off and his eyes grow distant. Looking back at Steve, Bucky grabs his shoulder with his free hand and says, “But I am not him. I saw your Bucky at the museum.” He squeezes Steve’s shoulder tight enough to hurt, and he looks him straight in the eyes and says, “He’s dead.”

Steve has repeated those words to himself countless times since Bucky fell off the train. He repeated them during the final weeks of the war when he would look to his right to say something to Bucky only to remember, _he’s dead_. Then after he woke up in the future, he would look to the empty spaces in his life and remind himself, _he’s dead_ , not even trying to fill the void because how could he? How could anyone fill the spaces Bucky left behind? When he wakes up alone in a bed that is too empty, too big, and too soft, Steve has to remind himself, _he’s dead_.

Steve gently places his hand on Bucky’s cheek and in a quiet voice says, “No, you’re right here.” Steve will have to believe for the both of them for now.

***

The uneasy silence that follows Steve’s words is broken when Sam comes back in the room. Steve lowers his hand, but Bucky keeps gripping Steve’s shoulder, looser now. Steve finds the contact comforting. It reminds him that this is real. “Scott’s coming,” Sam says. He looks at Bucky. “He’ll be able to get you out. Don’t worry.”

“ETA?” Steve asks. He turns so he can see Sam, but remains kneeling next to Bucky so he doesn’t dislodge his hand.

“It’ll be a while. Five, maybe six hours,” Sam says shrugging his shoulders apologetically.

Steve exhales and leans his head back against the machine trapping Bucky.

“Will he get me out?” Bucky asks Sam, surprising them both.

“If anyone can, it’s him,” Sam answers, not making any promises he can’t keep.

“Good,” Bucky says. He moves his hand from Steve’s shoulder to his own shoulder, massaging the area that connects flesh to metal.

Steve winces in sympathy. Holding the weight of his metal arm at that angle for however long he’s been trapped must be painful.

“We’ve been looking for you,” Sam says. He sounds almost scolding, not giving away how afraid of the Winter Soldier Steve knows he is.

“I didn’t want to be found.” They know that. Bucky covered his tracks well.

“What were you doing?” Steve can’t help asking. They lost track of Bucky’s movement after the destruction of the lab in Bucharest. The only eye-witness was an old woman who claimed a _monstru_ with a metal arm entered the building moments before it exploded. When Sam told him, Steve had been terrified that Bucky died in the explosion. As the months passed, Steve tried not to think of the possibility that Bucky survived all this time only to die shortly after Steve found out he was alive. Steve’s dreams, which had been plagued with Bucky falling from the train, changed to dreams of Bucky burning in a lab.

“Destroying their work,” Bucky answers.

Steve glances at Sam and looks back at Bucky, waiting for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t.

Sam surprises Steve by saying, “You’ve been under the radar since Bucharest, so the way I see it is either you destroyed everything, or you've been doing something else.” Sam crouches down so he’s eye level with Bucky, but he keeps enough distance to stay out of reach. “Did you destroy everything you meant to?” Sam asks.

“No.” Bucky answers, sounding defeated.

“Then what’ve you been doing?” Sam asks, pressing on with his questions.

“Looking for survivors,” Bucky answers.

Sam raises his eyebrows, and glances at Steve.

Unsure what Bucky means, Steve shrugs at Sam and asks Bucky, “Survivors of what?”

“Project Pollux,” Bucky answers. The name is new to Steve, and based on the look on his face, it’s new to Sam too.

“Did you find any survivors?” Sam asks.

“One,” Bucky lets out a long breath, and slumps further to the ground, his metal arm shaking with the strain of holding it up. “But I was too late. HYDRA found him too.”

“What happened?” Steve asks.

“They overpowered me, trapped me, stuck needles in me.” Bucky looks off into the distance as he answers, and then focuses on Steve. Suddenly, he grabs Steve’s shirt and pulls him close. Steve sees Sam tense out of the corner of his eye, but he keeps his attention on Bucky. “You need to find him,” Bucky says, voice rising in pitch and trembling. His fist tightens on Steve’s shirt.

“Who is he?” Steve asks.

“TJ Hammond.”

Steve's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“What?” Sam furrows his brows in confusion, and asks, “Why does HYDRA want the Vice President's son?”

“He looks identical to you,” Steve says, remembering the night he met TJ. Even through his own grief, Steve could see how sad TJ was. He can’t think of anything, other than him looking like Bucky, that would get HYDRA’s attention. “And you said he was a survivor. What did he survive?”

Bucky let's go of Steve and starts to pull wildly at his arm again, “Get me out of here,” he shouts.

“Stop that,” Steve orders, “You’ll hurt yourself.” Steve can’t stand seeing Bucky in pain.

Bucky ignores him, and keep pulling, so Steve grabs his shoulder and says, “Stop. Please.” Some of the desperation in Steve’s voice must get through to Bucky because this time he stops.

“I need to save him,” Bucky says, looking at Steve and then at Sam.

“What does HYDRA want with him?” Sam asks again.

“He’s one of the survivors." Bucky lets go of Steve and curls in on himself looking at the ground. “Some died on their own. Others were killed because they were made wrong. They experimented… killed so many.”

“What do mean ‘made wrong’?” Steve asks.

“They wanted more assets,” Bucky says, looking at Steve again, “But all they got were weaker copies.”

“So, HYDRA is making TJ Hammond into another Winter Soldier?” Sam asks, sounding skeptical, “How?”

“Zola’s serum only worked on me, so they made more of me.” Bucky says, gesturing at himself with his free arm.

“You mean… like clones?” Sam asks.

“Clones. There were so many of them but…”

“How... the Vice President’s son is your clone,” Steve says slowly.  

Sam raises his eyebrows at Steve.

“It makes sense,” Steve defends.

“How does it make sense?” Sam asks.

“He looks exactly the same as Bucky,” Steve says, “It’s not just a resemblance, and TJ said they’re not related, so it does make a weird sort of--”

“You need to save him,” Bucky says, interrupting Steve, “They’ll kill him or worse."

“We’ll help him.” Steve promises.

“Now. You need to go now,” Bucky demands.

“I’m not leaving without you," Steve says.

“Then it will be too late for him,” Bucky yells, clenching his fist. 

“I’m not leaving--”

“We’ll look for him from here,” Sam says, interrupting Steve.

“It’ll be too late,” Bucky replies, quieter now.

“We won’t find him if we don’t know where to look.” Sam says reasonably.

In that moment, Steve feels overwhelming gratitude for Sam's support and cool head. Steve knows he’s compromised when it comes to Bucky, but he doesn’t care. He’s always tried to do the right thing, and he can’t imagine that leaving Bucky behind will ever be the right thing. Leaving him behind after he fell from the train is what got them into this mess. _Never again._

***

Sam pulls Steve aside and takes him into the next room where Bucky can’t hear them. “This is crazy.”

“I know,” Steve says, “But is is crazier than anything else in our lives?”

“Speak for yourself,” Sam replies, “My life was nice and normal before you ran your way into it.”

“Sure it was,” Steve says sarcastically, “You were pararescue, which sounds normal enough, but you had wings. Wings! Before joining the Avengers, you already had the codename Falcon, so you didn’t even need--”

“Alright, you made your point.” Sam says, sighing.

“Thank you for coming with me. I don’t know what I’d do--”

“Oh, no." Sam raises both of his hands. "No thanks necessary, Cap.”

“You’re a good friend, Sam. I’m glad to have you on my team.”

“I’m glad to be on your team. Someone needs to keep you from doing stupid shit.” Sam smiles and then sighs. “How do you want to proceed?”

“We can’t leave him,” Steve says firmly.

“I wasn’t suggesting it.”

“This place was nowhere near as guarded as it should have been. If they didn’t have any plans for Bucky--”

“They would have killed him. Maybe they wanted him to be found?” Sam asks.

“But they couldn’t have known we were coming,” Steve replies.

“No, but what if it wasn’t us they wanted to find him?”

“What do you mean?” Steve asks.

“Think about it. You’ve seen the news. The Winter Soldier is all over it.” Sam says while waving his hands in the air. “He’s responsible for multiple shootings in DC, causing fear and chaos all over.”

“You think they wanted him to get caught?” Steve asks, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes.

“The Accords are all anyone can talk about, but there’s strong opposition. With an attack like this, people are going to be even more afraid of enhanced people,” Sam answers.

“So, what, HYDRA planned to catch the Bucky somewhere public, make a show of how scary he is, and use it to help pass the Accords?” Steve asks.

“They might not have planned it, but they can still use it,” Sam replies.

“Why would HYDRA want the Accords to pass? They're just as interested in enhanced people as anyone else,” Steve says.

“Yes, but maybe they don’t want the competition. Or maybe they just want to cause us more problems. I don’t know, man, I’m just trying to fit the pieces together,” Sam says, “Besides, there’s someone here who knows more than he told us.”

Steve nods and heads back to Bucky, waving at Sam to follow.

***

Bucky looks up when Steve and Sam walk back in. He still looks tense.

“Do you know why they left you here?" Steve asks.

“They said they need more information--answers,” Bucky replies.

“To turn TJ Hammond into the Winter Soldier,” Steve guesses.

“I’m broken… failed my mission,” Bucky says in a quiet voice, and Steve’s heart clenches at those words. “The Red Room wanted the serum, so they cloned me.”

Steve looks over at Sam whose look of surprise must be reflected on his own face. The HYDRA files say that the Winter Soldier changed hands several times, sometimes in custody of the Russians, HYDRA, or even both, but there was nothing about cloning in any of the Red Room files. Steve wonders if Natasha knows anything about this. He needs to talk to her soon.

“How many clones are there?” Sam asks.

“I don’t know. They didn’t get the serum, so they killed the first clones and started again,” Bucky says, and Steve wishes he couldn’t see it. The image of countless clones with Bucky’s face being killed one by one makes his stomach lurch.

“I don’t know,” Bucky answers, “I only found one.”

“Does he have Zola’s serum?” Steve asks.

“No,” Bucky answers, and Steve is relieved for a moment. “None of the clones got the serum. They trained some, experimented on others, and… they killed a lot of them.” Bucky goes quiet.

“So they think the serum will work on the clones,” Sam says.

“We can’t let them have it,” Steve says.

They get as much information from Bucky as possible, and it’s a slow process. The details are horrifying. It makes Steve wonder how much Bucky remembers. He gets confused, not always able to tell what is real. He gets the order of events confused. There are still pieces missing. Some information he remembers from when it happened, and other information was collected during his path of destruction through Europe.

It breaks Steve’s heart to see Bucky like this. Bucky had always been the strong one. As much as he resented it at the time, it was always Steve who needed Bucky to look after him. It was so rarely the other way around. The time Bucky broke his leg Steve helped him wash up with a bucket and a cloth. It was so very intimate. Bucky was a bit silly on the painkillers. He kept peppering Steve’s face with kisses. Then one lingered on Steve’s mouth, and Bucky had started sucking on Steve’s bottom lip. Washcloth forgotten, Steve--

“I remember a boy." Bucky’s words tug Steve out of his memories and bring him back to the badly lit garage with Bucky and Sam. Bucky pauses as if he needs to collect himself before continuing. “My mission was to teach him how to fight like I did. He was a good shot and he ran fast, but he was not strong.” Bucky’s voice is steady, but his whole body is trembling. Steve can’t take his eyes off him. “He was a child,” Bucky continues, “They were angry that he wasn’t good enough, so they ordered me to shoot him. I did.”

Steve interrupts him. “Bucky--”

Bucky ignores Steve and continues the story. “Before I found files in Siberia, I thought of him as only one of the many children I killed. But when I read the files… he was my clone. Is it murder when it’s yourself you are killing?” Bucky asks.

Steve realizes his eyes are filled with tears. “I’m so sorry,” he says, “If I had--”

“Steve,” Sam says, squeezing his shoulder, “Take a walk. I got this.”

Steve nods and bolts out of the room. Before he knows it, he's outside. His heart is beating rapidly, so Steve tries to control his breathing, but it is all too much. He squeezes his eyes shut, leans against the building, and buries his face in his hands. “God fucking dammit,” Steve screams. He sinks to the ground.

***

Steve feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. He wants to ignore it, but if any of this few people with his number are calling, it might be important, so he picks up.

“Did you find him?” Natasha asks.

“Yes.” Steve replies, curt.

“You don’t sound happy,” Natasha says. Steve is grateful to have Natasha as a friend, but sometimes he wishes she wasn’t so observant. “What went wrong?” she asks.

“There’s been a slight… complication, but we found him.” Steve winces at how shaky his voice is.

“Hmm,” Natasha replies, “On your way back?”

“No, that’s the complication. He’s trapped,” Steve sighs, suddenly he feels so very tired. "We may be a while.”

“Can I help?" Natasha asks.

“No, I want to keep this as contained as possible. You need to concentrate on the team. How're things at base?” Steve asks.

“Same as when you left. Don’t worry about us. I got this,” Natasha says, and Steve knows she does. There isn’t anyone else he would have left in charge of the team.

“I know you do. Are Wanda and Rhodes speaking yet?” Steve asks.

“I’m not a miracle worker.” Natasha replies, voice wry. “I’ve paired Wanda up with Clint, and Rhodes up with Vision.” Steve hears Natasha’s sigh. “It’s not a long-term solution, but it’s working for now.”

“When did Clint get in?”

“Not long after you left." Natasha pauses, and then with a soft voice she asks, "Steve, how are you holding up?”

“He’s trapped in a vise like an animal,” Steve says, anger bubbling just below the surface.  

“That's awful,” Natasha says, “But I didn’t ask how he’s doing, I asked how you’re doing.”

“I’ll be better once we get him out of this thing,” Steve says honestly.

“I’ll let it go for now, but Steve, I expect a real answer when you get back,” Natasha says, voice firm.

“Alright.” His mind still on Bucky’s revelations, Steve asks, “Do you know anything about Project Pollux?”

“No, I’ve never heard of it,” Natasha says.

“What about cloning?” Steve asks, thinking about the Red Room.

"You mean like Dolly the sheep?” she sounds surprised.

Not knowing who Dolly the sheep is, Steve clarifies, “Human cloning.”

“Why are you asking?”

“It’s something Bucky said,” Steve answers vaguely.

“He’s talking?” Natasha sounds surprised.

“Yeah, a bit.”

“That’s better than I expected,” She says, and Steve appreciates her honesty. “How lucid is he?” she asks.

“He knows where he is and what is happening.”

“And his memory?” Natasha asks.

“He remembers everything.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Steve replies, a bit frustrated now. “He’s gotten confused about the order of events a few times, but it’s all there.”

“Steve, that’s all good news. What's wrong?” Natasha asks.

“He… he said that he's dead.” Steve answers, voice raising like he’s asking a question.

“He thinks he’s dead?” Natasha asks, sounding more worried now.

“No, I'm pretty sure he knows he’s alive, but he said Bucky died when he fell off the train.”

There's a moment of silence. “I know you don't want to hear it, but Steve, maybe he’s right?”

“I don’t believe that,” Steve says. He can’t believe that. Bucky is right here: he remembers Steve’s mother, remembers Steve’s shoes, knows Steve. It has to be him.

“Have you thought that maybe it’s easier for him to see Bucky as dead and himself as someone different?" Natasha asks.

"That... no, I haven't," Steve says, but he thinks about it. He remembers sitting in his S.H.I.E.L.D assigned therapist’s office. It was sleek and modern with large glass windows, and when he looked outside he could see the New York skyline. Some of it was familiar, like the Chrysler Building which had dwarfed all other buildings when it was completed, but there were differences too--like the huge glass skyscraper that almost matched the Chrysler Building in size. He doesn’t think his therapist liked him much. She was always unimpressed by his answers. She had warned him about dissociation, and looking back at how he was when he first woke up in the twenty-first century, he has to admit that she may have had a point. Thinking about Bucky, Steve thinks dissociation would explain some of what he said.

"Steve, you have to realize that he may never be the friend you remember," she says softly.

"I don't expect him to be the same. Hell, I'm not the same,” Steve answers, and isn’t that the truth? Through all his changes, Bucky stuck with him. Steve certainly isn’t going to abandon him because he's different than he was. “But he's still my friend, and I'll never give up on him. I can't give up on him."

"As long as you know what you're doing," Natasha says, sighing.

He doesn't, but it's not like there is a playbook for this type of situation. Steve isn't going to lie to her. "Not really, but I'm doing my best." 

"That's all you can do,” Natasha says, and Steve hears voices through the phone, but can’t make out the words. “I have to go. Keep me updated."

"I will," Steve says, and then he hangs up. For a moment he just sits there and breathes. Talking with Natasha has calmed him down a bit, but he still feels this overwhelming weight on his shoulders, and he doesn’t know how long he’ll be able to told it up. He needs to be strong. Bucky needs him.

***

When Steve walks back into the garage, Sam runs up to him. “Hey, you’ll want to see this.”

Steve sees Sam reading something on his phone, so Steve holds his hand out, and Sam passes it to him. It’s the CNN Breaking News twitter page. The most recent tweet shows that the Winter Soldier is confirmed to have been on the scene, and he is the primary suspect in the shooting. This will cause problems. The next tweets will also cause problems.

 

**CNN Breaking News** @cnnbrk

Police reporting that TJ Hammond is missing. No comments from the Vice President’s office yet.

**CNN Breaking News** @cnnbrk

Breaking: Douglas Hammond attacked, and in hospital--condition unknown.

**CNN Breaking News** @cnnbrk

Is the attack on Douglas Hammond connected to the shooting in DC? Read here: cnn.it/1MnJTaW

 

Steve’s chest tightens. He doesn't know if he’s more worried about what the government is going to try to do about Bucky or whatever it is HYDRA is doing to TJ Hammond. He gives the phone back to Sam. “This complicates things.”

They head back to the room Bucky’s trapped in, and the only acknowledgement they get when they walk in is Bucky raising his head to look at them before looking back down at the ground. Steve wants to ask Sam what they talked about when he was gone, but won’t ask in front of Bucky.

Instead, Steve sits a few feet away from Bucky--close enough that he can see him, but far enough away to not to bother him if he wants to be left alone--and he attempts to research on his phone. Sam sits next to him and does the same.

Steve searches the wiki that was created to organize the leaked HYDRA files. There are no hits for “Project Prolux”, “TJ Hammond”, or “clone”, and the only hits on Hammond are the inclusion former president Bud Hammond and Douglas Hammond on the kill list, which doesn’t explain TJ’s connection to Project Prolux and HYDRA.

There are only a couple mentions of the Winter Soldier in the files; in some ways, they are very lucky that HYDRA was too paranoid to digitize their most sensitive files.

However, the files do show that the Winter Soldier has changed hands a few times over the years. It was HYDRA that found him in Austria, but it was the Russians that gave him the arm and sent him on the majority of his missions. He spent some time in the Red Room. It wasn’t until the 1991 that HYDRA regained custody of the Winter Soldier, but there was some evidence that pointed to HYDRA working with the Red Room starting in the late 1970s but falling out again in the mid-80s.

***

After hours of research, with very little useful new information, a phone goes off. It’s Sam’s.

“Hello,” Sam says, “I’ll be out in a minute.” Sam hangs up, and he says to Steve, “Scott’s here. We’ll all be out of here soon.”

When Sam leaves, Steve stands up and starts pacing, suddenly restless. After a few minutes Steve hears the door to the garage open, so Steve goes to meet them. Steve sees Sam and a man with dark brown hair and stubble who must be Scott. He's wearing a black hoodie, jeans, and a backpack. Steve gives Sam an unimpressed look.

“Steve, this is Scott. He’s also goes by Ant Man,” Sam says, waving at Steve, and then waving at Scott. “Scott, this is Steve.”

“It’s an honour to meet you,” Scott says shaking Steve’s hand enthusiastically, “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Sam makes a face and interrupts Scott. “None of that. Cap doesn’t need a bigger ego.”

“Sorry, I can’t say I’ve heard much about you,” Steve says, “I saw a bit of what you did on the news, but today was the first I heard about Sam knowing you.” Steve looks at Sam with a raised eyebrow and asks Scott, “How’d you meet?”  

“I uh… borrowed something from your headquarters, and Sam tried to stop me,” Scott says, and then he looks at Sam. “We’re cool now though, right?”

“You owe me a set of wings,” Sam says, and he crosses his arms.  

“How’d you destroy Sam’s wings?” Steve asks Scott.

“Well, you know about the Ant Man suit?” Scott asks.

“Yeah, it makes you small,” Steve answers with a hint of smile on his face.

“Well, I went inside the wings, and it was easy enough--”

“You knew!” Sam shouts, pointing at Steve.

“Yeah, Nat told me,” Steve says, grinning now. “I wanted to hear it directly from the source though.”

“You’re a shit,” Sam says.

Steve shrugs. “Been told that before.” Steve turns to Scott and asks, “Do you have the suit?”

“Yeah, in my bag.” Scott says, raising the strap of his backpack, “But depending on your problem, I might have something better. Sam said you wanted to keep this on the downlow.”

Steve nods and leads Scott into the room with Bucky, Sam following behind Scott.

“This is… how do you want me to introduce you?” Steve asks Bucky who is staring at the new arrival.

“Bucky’s fine,” he answers.

“As in Bucky Barnes?” Scott asks, eyes wide and mouth is open in shock. Steve nods, and Scott asks, “How is that even possible?”

“It’s a long story.” Sam says, “Best save it for after we get _Bucky_ out.”

“Alright,” Scott says.

“Can you get him out?” Steve asks

Scott looks at the vise, nods, and says, “This should be easy.” He opens his backpack and Steve hears Scott mutter, “Got it!” under his breath. Steve expects to see the suit, but instead Scott has a small device in his hand. Scott closes the backpack, swings it over his shoulder, and walks towards Bucky and the vise. He stops suddenly a couple of feet away from Bucky. Steve can’t see his face.

“What’s the problem?” Sam asks.

Scott turns around and faces Sam and Steve. “I recognize that arm,” Scott says pointing at Bucky. “He’s the Winter Soldier. Should we really be letting him out?”

“He’s also Bucky Barnes--”

“Yes, we should.” Sam answers, and he gives Steve a look telling him that he’ll sort this out. “This man has been a prisoner of war for decades, and we need to get him out before HYDRA comes back.”

“I’ll do this because I'm trusting you,” Scott answers, “But if anything goes wrong, it’s on the both of you."

“Agreed,” Steve answers.

Scott nods, walks over to Bucky, and puts the device on the vise. Before Steve can process what is happening, the vise has shrunk, and Bucky is free. It’s one of the weirder things Steve has seen, and coming from him, that is saying a lot. Bucky collapses to the ground: the force must have been too much. Steve is by his side in seconds, helping Bucky stand back up. He’s surprised Bucky is letting him help.

“Now what?” Sam asks.

“We need to go back to base, and get Bucky’s arm checked out,” Steve answers, his focus still on Bucky who is now standing on his own.

“No,” Bucky says, voice steady. “We need to rescue TJ.”

“You can’t move your arm--you’re barely holding up the weight,” Steve points out.

“I’m fine,” Bucky says.

“We’ll get you checked out, and then we’ll rescue him,” Steve says.

Bucky is shaking his head. “We’ll be too late.”

“We don’t have a plan,” Steve says.

“Steve, I think he’s right,” Sam says gently, “HYDRA has TJ. We need to go now or there might be nothing to rescue.”

Steve sighs, “Do we even know where he’s being held?”

“I might,” Bucky answers.

“Uh, guys?” Scott asks, getting everyone’s attention. Steve had almost forgotten he was there. “What are you talking about? Who’s TJ?”

“TJ Hammond has been taken by HYDRA, and we need to stop them from turning him into another Winter Soldier,” Sam answers.

“For real?” Scott asks.

“Unfortunately.” Steve answers.

“I can help,” Scott says, eagerly.

“You don’t have to,” Steve replies.

“No, I don’t,” Scott agrees, “But it’s helping the Vice President’s son. And I owe Sam one.” Scott nods at Sam.

“Thank you,” Bucky says to Scott, “For getting me out. And wanting to help.”

***

Everyone is now agreed, even Steve--though he wishes Bucky would agree to get his arm checked out first-- so they start planning.

As hesitant as he is to bring Bucky into a fight, they still work well together. Steve gets too focused on the goal and tries to force his way through, while Bucky points out all the ways the enemy could get the drop on them. It's what they do: Steve barrels his way into danger and Bucky gets him out. But it's not just Steve and Bucky anymore, and while they don't have the Howling Commandos to help, he trusts Sam and values his opinion. While he doesn't know or trust Scott, he does trust that Sam wouldn't bring in anyone who's a danger to them, and his technology could be very useful for reconnaissance.

Steve thinks the plan is rushed, but they don’t have much time, so it’s probably the best they’ll get. Luckily, they have Scott to infiltrate the facility where Bucky thinks HYDRA is holding TJ. Steve looks at the other three men and says, “Let’s do this.”

As Steve walks out of the warehouse, Bucky on his right and Sam and Scott following behind them, something clicks into place. He looks over at Bucky so relieved to have him at his side again, and looks back at Sam and Scott so grateful to have a team.

_Maybe, just maybe, we'll be OK._

**Author's Note:**

> The clones in this series are the _Orphan Black_ variety. No knowledge of _Orphan Black_ is required. 
> 
> Project Pollux is a nod to Project Castor in _Orphan Black_ , and it's a reference to the twins in Greek mythology. More information about Project Pollux will be revealed in the next story.


End file.
